Don’t count the PS4 out just yet. Sure, the PS5 is out and performing incredibly well, and many games are now exclusively next-gen propositions, but the PS4 is far from dead. Big-name games like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok are still launching on PS4, and while they may be the last first-party games we see arriving on Sony’s last-gen machine, that doesn’t mean no developers will want to create games for the PS4 anymore. After all, the PS4 still enjoys around 104 million active users, so that’s a huge demographic Sony would be missing out on if they ignored the console going forward.
Of course, other developers and publishers are free to do as they please, including Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption creator Rockstar. GTA Online and Red Dead Online have proven to be massive successes for the company, but the lack of single-player DLC or content for GTA 5 has prompted many players to wonder where GTA 6 is. We don’t know the answer to that question, but another pressing one would be: are we going to see GTA 6 on PS4? There are many potential answers and factors to this question, and we’re going to examine some of them today. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the question of “will GTA 6 be on PS4?”.
GTA 6 on PS4 looks unlikely
When Grand Theft Auto 5 launched in late 2013, it arrived slightly too early for a version on next-gen consoles. As such, it was released on Xbox 360 and PS3, and those consoles were arguably not ready for it. Versions on the PS4 and Xbox One fared better, and now we’re about to see GTA 5 arrive on PS5, where it will undoubtedly look the best it’s looked on any console.
Unfortunately, this means that GTA 6 on PS4 is looking pretty unlikely. We’re far too late into the console’s life cycle for Rockstar to consider launching a major tentpole franchise title on it. The chances are that Rockstar will look to launch GTA 6 on PS5 rather than PS4, taking advantage of the new console’s superior hardware in order to create a better-looking game.
Will GTA 6 be on PS4? There’s a small chance
There is, however, still a very small chance that Rockstar will hear gamers’ impassioned pleas for it to release GTA 6 on PS4 and launch a version of the game for the console. As we said earlier, the PS4 still enjoys a pretty huge user base, so Rockstar would be missing out on a lot of users if it didn’t launch its new flagship crime sandbox sim on the last-gen machine.
We could see a situation in which the game is launched for PS4 with a reduced frame rate and compromised graphics, just so that players get to enjoy it. PS5 players will undoubtedly get the superior technical experience, but there’s still a chance that PS4 players will actually be able to play the game. It’s slim, but there is a glimmer of hope if you’re crossing your fingers for GTA 6 on PS4.
Rockstar hasn’t even announced GTA 6 yet
Before we answer the question “will GTA 6 be on PS4”, we have to think about whether GTA 6 will exist at all. Grand Theft Auto 6 may be just a dream on the horizon for Rockstar; with so much money rolling in from GTA Online and Red Dead, it’s possible that the company isn’t even thinking about creating a new single-player experience just yet.
With that in mind, the possibility of GTA 6 on PS4 begins to shrink even further. Given that the game hasn’t even been announced yet, it’s unlikely we’ll see an announcement until at least mid-2022, possibly 2023 at the very earliest. By then, the PS4 will almost certainly have been phased out from a development perspective, which means that Rockstar won’t be thinking about launching GTA 6 on the last-gen machine at all.
What could GTA 6 look like?
There are a number of theories regarding what Grand Theft Auto 6 will actually look like (if the game ever sees the light of day, that is). Job listings and other potentially leaked info from Rockstar suggest widespread destructible scenery, a Vice City setting, and a chaptered story following our protagonist across several periods in their life. Unfortunately, this is all hearsay at present, as nobody has any concrete information.
That’s perhaps the most frustrating thing about GTA 6; since it hasn’t been officially announced and Rockstar remains tight-lipped about what the game might actually look like, we simply don’t know anything about it at this stage. We’re going to have to wait until the company reveals something official regarding GTA 6, but that’s looking less and less likely as time goes by.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, our concluding answer to the question “will GTA 6 be on PS4” would be a resounding “probably not”. There’s nothing to suggest that we won’t be far, far into the current console cycle when Rockstar thinks about releasing GTA 6, if indeed it ever does. At that point, the PS4 will be a distant memory in most developers’ and publishers’ eyes. There’s a chance we won’t even see the game on the PS5, let alone the PS4. We’ll have to wait and see what Rockstar says about GTA 6, but right now, it’s probably not worth getting your hopes up if you’re an avid PS4 gamer.